This invention relates to a padded roof cap for an automobile vehicle roof and more particularly to a method of manufacturing the same.
Several automotive vehicles are produced which have a decorative roof cap over the metal roof. These roof caps are often referred to as "landau tops" which cover the entire roof or only the rear portion of the vehicle roof. Typically the roof caps have vinyl or fabric outer covers with a padding material under the cover.
The typical method of manufacturing roof caps has been to glue foam onto a rigid substrate which has been shaped to fit over the metal vehicle roof. A cover is then stretched over and glued to the outer surface of the foam. The rigid substrate is then fastened to the vehicle roof with mechanical fasteners. A trim strip is then required to cover the mechanical fasteners to provide a finished appearance around the edges of the roof cap and around window openings.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of manufacturing a roof cap which does not require a separate step of stretching of the cover member over the foam pad.
It is a further object of this invention to eliminate the need for trim strips around the edges of the roof cap and particularly around the window openings while providing a finished edge appearance.
The method of manufacturing the roof cap per the present invention includes first forming a composite material by laminating a flexible thermoplastic sheet or fabric cover member onto a core layer of thermoplastic material. The core layer may consist of a noncellular thermoplastic sheet or one or more layers of thermoplastic foam. This composite is then termoformed by applying heat and pressure to a desired shape complementary to the shape of the vehicle roof for which the roof cap is intended.
The peripheral edges of the roof cap and the edges around window openings are preferably formed by providing an excess of composite beyond the desired location of the edge. The core layer material is removed from this excess leaving a flap of the cover member extending beyond the edge. This flap of the cover member is then wrapped around the edge and secured to the core layer thereby finishing the roof cap edge.
In the case of a foam core layer, prior to removal of the excess core layer, the foam may first be pinched along the desired edge location and may be heated to fuse the foam to the cover member along the edge. The foam core layer may comprise more than one layer of foam. In one preferred embodiment, two foam layers are used, the bottom layer being a high density foam and the top layer being a low density foam. The high density foam aids in providing rigidity to the roof cap.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.